The Hunger Games Trilogy

Addictive? Yes!  I started this series just before February break.  Sure, I had seen a number of my students carrying around one of the three books in the series, but little did I know what world awaited me inside these pages.  

The Hunger Games (2008)

Suzanne Collins

So begins our journey in Panem, a dystopian land in the not so far-off future.  The former United States under a twisted dictatorship after a catastrophic war destroyed most of the population.  To remind the citizens of Panem how terrible the country was before the new leadership, each year 2 children (ages 12-18) from each of the 12 districts are entered into the Hunger Games.  A twisted reality show meets death match, each of the 24 children kill each other off as they fight to be the last survivor.

Enter our heroine, Katniss - a 16-year-old girl from the rough part of one of the poorest districts - District 12. An excellent hunter, she is a whiz with a bow an arrow.  Her younger sister's name is drawn and Katniss volunteers to go in her place - an ultimate sacrifice, as the odds of surviving are not in her favor.  The other person drawn, Peeta.  A boy the same age as her who is well spoken and a strong partner.  I won't give away the plot or the twists, but I will say that I hung on every word and devoured it page by page.   

Catching Fire (2009)

Suzanne Collins

The second book, and also my favorite.  I read this book in one day - literally couldn't put it down.  Our heroine is thrown into many challenges - personally (love triangle), politically (a brewing uprising), and publicly (an accidental and somewhat unwilling icon of the rebellion). The impossible happens and we see our heroine thrown back into unimaginable conditions, along with Peeta.  We are left desperate for an answer to each of the challenges faced by Katniss.  

Mockingjay (2010)

Suzanne Collins

I started this book minutes after finishing Catching Fire and finished it in less than a day.  I found myself desperate to know the answers to the questions that the author builds into the first and second books.  I found my timing of reading these books to be perfect.  Much of the books focuses on an uprising in Panem - just as much of the Middle East is in an uprising.  I found myself comparing much of the struggles that Katniss and the other characters in the books to be very similar to the young and inspirational protesters in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, and Yemen.  The fictional characters and the real-life protesters were all fighting for a better life and for their freedoms.

I highly recommend these books - but beware, once you read one, you need to have the next book ready to go!